Anarchy Found (SuperAlpha, #1)(6)

Sheila, apparently back online.

I look around a little more and spy… not a cape, thank God, but a… a…

Helicopter, parked at the far end of the enormous cavern.

And then I get the perfect list after all, because I see…

Guns.



No, they are more than mere guns. I know my way around a gun and these are—

“What the f*ck are you doing here, gun girl? I thought we parted back in the forest.”

“Oh, my God,” I repeat. “You’re Batman.”





Chapter Four - Lincoln




I force a smile as I set my protein shake down, but inside I’m pissed as hell. She is not supposed to be here. “How the f*ck did you get in?”

She’s shaking her head, gun in hand, and backing up the way she came. But I can’t just let her walk out. Not after she’s seen all this. Not after she’s seen me. Jesus Christ, she might be able to identify me. I really need to do something.

“The gate in front of the tunnel was open and I just followed your cave running lights.”

“That’s what happens when Sheila goes down.” I curse under my breath at Case.

“And I can tell by your reaction”—gun girl is still backing up—“that you’re not one of the good guys, are you?”

“Good guys?” This actually makes me laugh. “There’s such a thing?” I lunge at her, trying to cut her off before she backs herself into the entrance, but she dodges me and skirts to the right, kicking over an oilcan as she moves. “Why are you running, gun girl?”

“Why are you chasing me, bike boy?”

“Not Batman then, huh?”

She shakes her head, her eyes are darting around like she’s looking for an escape route.

“Sheila,” I call out. When I look over, Sheila’s got a little smirk on her face. Like she’s feeling vindicated about this whole f*ckup.

“How can I help—”

“Uh…” I cut Sheila off before she says my name out loud. “Secure the perimeter and the tunnel.”

“Perimeter and tunnel secure,” she says as soon as I’m done.

“That’s clever,” gun girl says. “What are you, some diabolical mad scientist?”

“Something like that.”

“I’m gonna get out of here. You can’t keep me here. And if you think I’ll surrender and let you—”

“Hey,” I say, putting my hands up, palms out in front of me. “Take it easy, OK? I’m not keeping you here. I just need to make sure the place is buttoned up. I have a lot of expensive stuff happening in this room.”

She stops backing up, and that’s enough for me at the moment. “Who are you?”

I shake my head. “You don’t need to know that.”

“I’m afraid I do. I brought you here. You made me bring you here. And now I see those wheels turning in your head. You can’t let me go. Not after I’ve seen all this stuff you have. Do you have permits for this place? Hell, do you even own this land?”

I scrub my gloved hand down my unshaven face and sigh. Think, Lincoln. Think. How the f*ck do I get out of this? There’s probably six different ways I can handle this, but most of them would be difficult, involve a lot of talking and explaining, and I’m not in the mood for that shit right now.

“I just want to go, OK? But my truck is stuck in the mud. So if you help me get it back on the road, I’ll leave and never come back.”

I shoot her a grin, the one that disarms all the girls I never bring home. It’s big, with dimples, and makes my eyes soften so people trust me. “No problem. Let’s go do that.” I shoot her a little wink.

Gun girl recoils a little. She starts shaking her head again. “You’re lying. You’re lying and I’m not falling for it.”

“I’m not lying, I’m gonna help you.” Just not the way you think. I take a few steps towards her, but she takes off running to the right, trips over a floor mat, barely catches herself before she faceplants, recovers, and stops on the other side of my black muscle car.

“You wanna play the kiddy chase game, gun girl?” I laugh a little at the thought. She’s tough, and scared, and holding a weapon aimed at my chest. So the whole idea is a little ridiculous. But she’s very cute in her I’ve-got-a-gun-and-I-know-how-to-use-it way. “I can play, but I always win.”

“Well,” she says, a little out of breath and with one of her hands on the hood of my car, like she’s trying to calm down. I take a few steps forward, and she eases away. “I always win as well. So we’re an even match for this game.”

She’s in bolt mode. One wrong move and she runs. And even though I could catch her easily under normal conditions, I don’t have the energy to catch her right now. My body is more f*cked up than it looks from that crash. I need to eat and recover or I’m gonna pass out.

Her feet are not sure which way to go until I make a move one way or another, so I need to play this smart. “There’s no need for such fierce competition,” I say, taking a few steps towards the front of the car. She sprints to the rear end, keeping the car between us. “I might not be a good guy, as you put it. But I’m really not gonna hurt you.” Especially after what happened out there on the road when I grabbed her foot and took her down. I want to think a little harder about that, but she starts to move, interrupting my thoughts.